What's replacing DINOSAUR at Animal Kingdom — and the twist about its new track

If you've walked past the old DinoLand U.S.A. footprint at Animal Kingdom recently, you've seen it: steel rising several stories up, framed against what's starting to look like a Maya pyramid. That's the future home of an Indiana Jones ride — and the story of how it got there loops back almost 30 years to a completely different park.

What's actually replacing DinoLand U.S.A.

DINOSAUR and Restaurantosaurus closed for good in February 2026, the last phase of DinoLand U.S.A. shutting down entirely. In its place: a new land called Tropical Americas, built around a fictional village called Pueblo Esperanza — "village of hope." Disney has confirmed the land's headline attractions are an Indiana Jones ride and an Encanto-themed ride, alongside a new carousel and playground.

The Indiana Jones ride isn't starting from scratch. It's being built directly into DINOSAUR's old showbuilding, reusing the existing structure and ride system rather than clearing the site and starting over — one reason Imagineering expects a shorter build than a from-the-ground-up attraction would take.

The twist: this track isn't new to Indiana Jones

Here's the part that surprises even longtime park fans: DINOSAUR wasn't just inspired by Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland — it was built on the same ride system, developed at the same time, following a nearly identical physical track layout. When Imagineering designed what would become DINOSAUR (originally Countdown to Extinction) in the mid-1990s, they reused the track path and the newly-created Enhanced Motion Vehicle system from Indiana Jones Adventure as a cost-saving measure. The result is two rides with very different theming — ancient temple vs. prehistoric jungle — built on essentially the same hills, drops, and turns, producing a strikingly similar physical sensation.

So when Indiana Jones opens at Animal Kingdom, it won't just be borrowing the name and the adventurer aesthetic. It'll be running on a track descended from the same design as the original Disneyland ride — the franchise's theming finally catching up to hardware it was already, quietly, sharing.

Why DinoLand, specifically

DinoLand U.S.A. always sat a little oddly inside Animal Kingdom — a fossil-dig, carnival-midway aesthetic next to a park otherwise built around real ecosystems and cultural storytelling. That tension wasn't an accident of hindsight.

Imagineer Joe Rohde has said he pitched a Central and South America-themed land as a DinoLand replacement for around 15 years before it was finally approved, arguing it fit the park's actual mission better. Disney made the plan official at D23 in 2023, and confirmed Indiana Jones and Encanto as the two headline attractions the following year.

Where things stand right now

Construction is past the early groundwork stage — aerial photos show the steel framework for the pyramid-style facade going up directly on the old DINOSAUR showbuilding, with show-scene installation underway inside. Disney's original target was a 2027 opening, though Imagineering has since extended its set-installation permit into summer 2027, which is worth reading as "the date could still move" rather than a lock. We'll update this post as a firmer opening window gets confirmed.

Final thought

It's rare to get a ride that's simultaneously brand new and nearly 30 years old at the same time. When this one opens, the theming will finally be original — but the track underneath will be running the same hills and drops it always has, just for the franchise it was quietly built alongside from the start.